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Show Jan. 28, 1993 Fir DG 5DD '.wirlk:eirs Jack Worthen holds the Jack Worthen by Jay Joersz Hilltop Times staff Three workers at Hill AFB recently realized just how much it pays to share ideas with Uncle Sam. In fact, one of them learned it pays quite well to be stubborn. S t starter for the told Worthen, an When equipment specialist in the Aircraft Directorate, that he was wasting his time to turn in his suggestion, he did not listen. As a result, he received the highest award in the history of the suggestion program at Hill. Worthen received the' maximum $25,000 award limit and an additional $10,000 for a presidential award authorized by former President Bush. This was also the first ever presidential award given to any Hill sug-gester- s. But his huge reward was well worth it for the Air Force, as his suggestion vX ""1 saved the government more than $19 million in hard cash. Now one might think that to save the Air Force such a huge amount of money, Worthen must have spent years redesigning a weapon system or found a new use for the atom. However, the truth is the main thing he did was keep his eyes open and spotted a potential waste of some good parts. Greg Lazalere demonstrates how his new F--1 6 Anti-Ski- d Generator Tester works. The tester saved the Air Force nearly $1.5 million. 15 Hilltop Times Worthen said that in June of 1989 he noticed there was a certain amount of Quick Engine Change kits for the F-- 4 Phantom aircraft that were stored in several warehouses marked code "F," or unserviceable. But the only thing wrong with many of the kits, which hold thousands of parts including nuts and bolts, was a part had been removed and not replaced, making the kit incomplete. Other kits had parts in-- F-4- J-7- 's 9 en- gine, one of the high-valu- e items that was separated from incom- plete kits thanks to his $19 million suggestion. And in just a matter of two to three weeks, they had a tester that not only cost a fraction of the old tester, but was much more accurate and reliable. The testers are used to spin the main landing gear wheel speed sensors for terchanged with irreparable parts, rendering the entire kit unserviceable. He recommended that the kits be broken down and the serviceable parts be separated and put back into the supply system to fill shortages. He said the main emphasis was put on the high-valu- e items such as the engine's constant starter, speed drive, generator and nose dome. Greg Lazalere and Lt. Col. John Gax Lazalere, an equipment specialist in LA, said he had been notified that with many Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard units transitioning to the aircraft, there was a heavy reGenerator quirement for Anti-SkiTest Sets. But the units were being told there was a short supply of the waittesters and there was a period to procure the items. ing " So he and Gaz, an Air Force Reserve Individual Mobilization Augmentee assigned to LA, quickly got to work designing a new and improved tester. F-- 1 6 d 26-mon- th troubleshooting aircraft . anti-ski- d problems. In comparison, the old model cost $17,000, while the newer model only cost $1,450 to manufacture locally. Other advantages are the new tester weighs 60 percent less, gives more accurate RPM readings and better reliability.! Thanks to a simple design, field units can manufacture the units themselves. As a result of the suggestion and invention, the Air Force will save $1,453,083 annually and Lazalere and Gaz received $10,465 to share equally. For anyone contemplating putting in a suggestion, but unsure whether it's worth it, Worthen has a bit of advice: "If somebody tells you not to bother turning in a suggestion, do it anyway." Suggestions put bucks in employees' pockets by Jay Joersz Hilltop Times staff Workers in the Air Force can receive more money from the government than just their paycheck by just filling out a simple form. Sounds easy .enough, right? Well ... there is a little more to it than that. The form is an Air Force Form 1000, Air Force Suggestion Program, and it is not new. In fact, a glance at Ogden Air Logistics Center suggestion program figures shows that most people at Hill AFB are aware of the program. For the 11th consecutive year, Ogden ALC led the entire Air Force in the number of suggestions submitted and adopted. Even more, not only did Ogden ALC set the standard again in fiscal 1992, but it was a record-breakin- g year. Out of 2,266 eligible suggestions submitted, 1,027 were adopted with $311,833 being awarded to the suggesters and record-breakin- g tangible savings of for the Air Force due to $30,830,507 the multitude of great ideas. And. those figures are only from the suggestions of Hill workers. The suggestion office also receives approximately 1,200 suggestions each year from field units around the Air Force who deal with the Ogden ALC. Add on another 300 or so suggestions that are ineligible for one reason or another and there are a lot of people producing ideas to cut costs or do business better, which is a good formula for happy Air Force officials. Ogden ALC suggestion program 4k.fg KEEP THEM UNDER YOUR HAT! Award calculations All suggesters will be notified whether their suggestion is approved or not and how much their award will be, if it has been approved. Adopted suggestions that are beyond the scope of a worker's normal d baduties are awarded on sis as follows: 10 percent of the first $250 to $10,000 of savings; 3 percent of the next $10,000 to $100,000 and one-haof 1 percent of anything more than $100,000. There is a maximum benefit of $25,000. But, for suggestions with extremely significant savings, a presidential award can be approved by the president for an additional $10,000. In fact, the first-eve- r presidential award for a Hill suggester was given in 1992. However, if the suggestion is deemed part of a worker's normal duties, the cash award is figured in a different manner. According to current regulations, if the suggestion will result in savings of at least five times the suggester's annual salary in the first year of implementation, then the worker will be subject to an award based on the job responsibility table used for the suggestion program. But, an updated regulation will be coming out in about September, which will change this requirement to a savings result of $35,000 in the first year. By looking at Hill's annual response to the suggestion program, it is easy to see workers have realized that the regular paycheck is not the only way to get paid for a job well-donfull-awar- lf manager, Janene Gandee, said fiscal 1992 was the best year for suggestions she has ever seen in her 27 years of involvement with the program. "It was wonderful," she said. "I just love seeing all the money the Air Force is saving. And we are not talking intangibles. We are talking hard cash." Gandee said the closest year to this one was around $19 million in tangible savings. However, more than half of the credit for 1992's success was due to one wonderful suggestion, which saved the Air Force more than $19 million. (For more on that suggestion and the suggester see related story on this page.) How does it work? All Air Force military and civilian workers who are paid from appropri ated funds are eligible to submit a idea through the Air money-savinForce Suggestion Program, according to Gandee. An eligible suggestion must give an outline of a specific area for improvement, state the workable solution and give the benefits that can be expected. "Basically, we want ideas on how to do a job better, faster and cheaper," Gandee said. "The best suggestions are usually associated with the suggesters' own work because they know it best," Gandee continued. To submit a suggestion that meets the requirements mentioned above, simply fill out an Air Force Form 1000 and submit it to the suggestion office (MOSBJdg. 1254). The suggestion office will then send it to the office with the authority to evaluate the suggestion. g e. |